ADRIAN — When the Adrian Symphony Orchestra first released the information about the musical lineup for the 2012-13 season and who the guest artists were going to be, I was pleased if not downright astonished right from the first concert on down. My thought process started off something like this:

"Cecile Licad is coming back? To play the Rachmaninoff Second? Kurt Nikkanen is coming back? And how in the world did you land Anne Marie McDermott?"

Going back to the first two of those rhetorical questions, Licad first came to Adrian two seasons ago and played a Chopin concerto that was simply dazzling. Getting to hear her play the Rachmaninoff concerto — one of the great works, for piano or otherwise, in the repertoire, was going to be quite an experience, I was sure.

Happily, I was right and then some.

Licad joined the ASO Sunday afternoon for its season-opening concert, the program for which also included Smetana's "The Moldau" and Sibelius' Symphony No. 1. An interesting combination of music, to be sure, and all very different works but connected to each other through the sense of nationalism each composer brings to his respective piece.

And interesting, too, in the way ASO Music Director John Thomas Dodson put the concert together. Normally, something like "The Moldau" would have come first, followed by a concerto and with a symphony as the conclusion. But that wouldn't have worked nearly as well as what Dodson did: program the symphony before the intermission and the concerto afterward.

For one thing, the Sibelius work ends quite unlike any other symphony (it begins quite unlike any other one too, for that matter), and for people expecting a typical huge final symphonic chord of the sort that usually ends a concert, well, you're not going to get that from this composer in this symphony. And for another thing, by putting Licad's performance at the end of the program Dodson was saving the best for last.

Now, none of this is to say that the Adrian Symphony's playing in this concert was flawless, because it wasn't, exactly. But the mistakes were pretty minute compared to the whole artistic canvas of what was going on Sunday afternoon.

"The Moldau," which is one of those works you're likely to recognize at least part of even if you don't know what it's called, was a very pleasant way to begin the afternoon. It packs a lot of musical ideas into its 12 or so minute length, and the ASO gave a really nice, very expressive rendition of the piece.

Whereas "The Moldau" was something many people in the audience likely knew in some way, shape or form, the Sibelius First was probably exactly the opposite: most probably, almost no one in the hall Sunday had ever heard this work. And if not, they got a great introduction to it, because the orchestra played it tremendously well.

This may have been Sibelius' very first stab at writing a symphony, and he was still relatively young when he did so, but there's nothing at all immature or ill-constructed about it. He was a young man with a lot to say musically, and it's obvious that he wanted this work taken seriously. It's interestingly structured, as already noted, but it's also big and tuneful and dramatic, and the Adrian Symphony was absolutely fearless in its performance of it.

And then along came Licad and the Rachmaninoff Second Piano Concerto.

Hands down, this is one of classical music's masterpieces, with that beautiful main theme, its contrasting emotions, and such a perfect balance in the musical conversation that takes place between soloist and orchestra. And Licad's performance of it Sunday was one of the highlights of this or any other ASO season. Daring, imaginative, and impeccably played, this was quite simply a spectacular performance by a top-notch artist. And the orchestra, with Dodson keeping an especially watchful eye on what Licad was doing and with the musicians staying almost perfectly with him, held up its end of things more than well.

I have been known to say on a few previous occasions, "if you missed this concert, you really missed out on something." Well, this concert was one of those times. There are cities bigger than Adrian whose orchestras aren't going to get a soloist of the quality of Cecile Licad, or of the quality of, down the road, Kurt Nikkanen or Anne Marie McDermott. There are cities bigger than Adrian where you won't get to hear the Sibelius First Symphony. And that matters.